Broadband News

Gigaclear secures £18m loan to fund network expansion

Gigaclear is in the midst of a large growth phase with some 15,000 premises
covered by the company in rural villages and a further 10,000 premises to be
passed in the construction phases.

News of £18m (€25m) secured from the
European Investment Bank (EIB) means that the expansion plans can continue, and
with 40,000 additional premises planned to be passed in 2016 there is a lot of
work to be done.

"This level of support is a ringing endorsement of Gigaclear as a business.
EIB clearly has faith in our model and vision. It can see our own commitment to
invest and how effectively we are already providing next generation
infrastructure for the UK’s rural economy and communities. We’re transforming
lives and businesses, giving people access to the fastest internet speeds to be
found anywhere in the world and technologically future-proofing these rural
communities for years to come.

We have estimated that 1.5 million properties in the UK could benefit from
our services and we want to reach those people as quickly as possible, but
we’re a capital intensive business. So this loan is a landmark moment for us
and an important next step in our expansion strategy.

Matthew Hare, Chief Executive of Gigaclear

With several BDUK contracts now underway for Gigaclear the take-up rate both
initial and overtime will be an important metric and if the contracts contain
the same claw back clauses as the BT ones, high initial take-up which is
sometimes possible when Gigabit arrives in areas stuck with no broadband or
under 1 Mbps currently we might see the BDUK projects re-investing to increase
the Gigaclear foot print further. It will also be interesting to see if there
is any difference in the take-up rates between the BDUK areas and
campaign/demand led roll-outs.

Comments

- "Gigaclear arrives in areas stuck with no broadband or under 1 Mbps currently we might see the BDUK projects re-investing to increase the Gigaclear foot print further"
One obvious way that Gigaclear could extend their coverage into less populated areas at the fringes of their covered area would be to use Fixed Wireless.
FTTP networks in towns and villages surrounded by the less populated areas with fixed wireless on the same network could be a blueprint for the future.

chilting

about 1 year ago

This would seem to be the approach being taken by Cotswold Broadband.

http://www.cotswoldsbroadband.co.uk/download/1635/

Gigaclear are reported to being investing £3.2m in the project. It will be interesting to see how the fibre / fixed wireless combination works out.

mbuckingham

about 1 year ago

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